Central Rio Grande do Sul Conference

The Central Rio Grande do Sul Conference (Associação Central Sul-Rio-Grandense or ACSR) is an administrative unit of the Seventh-day Adventist Church (SDA Church), located in the territory of the South Brazil Union Conference (União Sul-Brasileira or USB).

The Central Rio Grande do Sul Conference’s headquarters is on 596 João Wallig Ave. in Zip Code 91340-001 in the Passo d’Areia neighborhood in the city of Porto Alegre, the capital of the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.¹

The ACSR mission field covers part of Porto Alegre metropolitan region plus 214 municipalities in central Rio Grande do Sul, an area with an estimated population of 5,103,455 inhabitants.² In this territory, there are 17,371 members divided into 224 congregations, 123 of which are churches and 101 are groups. The regional average is of one Adventist per 294 inhabitants.³

In the ACSR territory, there are 5,118 students served by the Adventist education network through 10 educational institutions. They are: Colégio Adventista de Santa Maria [Santa Maria Adventist Academy], in the city of Santa Maria, with 544 students; Colégio Adventista Marechal Rondon [Marechal Rondon Adventist Academy], in Porto Alegre, with 1,519 students; Colégio Adventista de Cachoeirinha [Cachoeirinha Adventist Academy], in Cachoeirinha, with 1,204 students; Colégio Adventista de São Borja [São Borja Adventist Academy], in São Borja, with 135 students; Escola Adventista de Cachoeira do Sul [Cachoeira do Sul Adventist School], in Cachoeira do Sul, with 158 students; Escola Adventista de Ijuí [Ijuí Adventist School], in Ijuí, with 188 students; Escola Adventista de Alegrete [Alegrete Adventist School], in Alegrete, with 79 students; Escola Adventista de Santo Ângelo [Santo Ângelo Adventist School], in Santo Ângelo, with 157 students; Escola Adventista de Caxias do Sul [Caxias do Sul Adventist School], in Caxias do Sul, with 327 students; and Escola Adventista do Sarandi [Satandi Adventist School], in Porto Alegre, with 807 students.⁴

In the ACSR territory, there are two Health Life Style Centers in operation, which also serve as Urban Centers of Influence⁵. One is located at 167 Benjamin Constant Ave. in the São Pedro neighborhood in the northern area of Porto Alegre,⁶ and the other is at the Reynold Business Center on 1441 Doutor Montaury St., Room 2, in the city of Caxias do Sul downtown area.⁷ In addition to that, in the medical field, the ACSR has within its territory the Porto Alegre Adventist Clinic. The clinic is located on 581 Matias José Bins St. in the Três Figueiras neighborhood in Porto Alegre, and it provides services in several medical specialties, such as cardiology, dermatology, gastroenterology, gynecology, and obstetrics, among others.⁸

In the communication field, the ACSR has a New Time Radio station, which operates on the 99.9 FM frequency in the city of Porto Alegre with a potential reach of approximately 5,000,000 listeners in 30 municipalities. TV Novo Tempo [Hope Channel Brazil] is also broadcast openly to the city of Porto Alegre, its surroundings, and six other cities: Antônio Prado – Channel 59; Bento Gonçalves – Channel 30; Lagoa Vermelha– Channel 29; Porto Alegre and its surroundings – Channel 44; Rio Pardo – Channel 53; Santa Cruz – Channel 49; and São Marcos – Channel 4.⁹ In order to serve the youth in the field, there are 90 Pathfinder Clubs¹⁰ with 2,465 participants altogether, and 71 Adventurers Clubs¹¹ that assist a total of at least 1,463 children.¹² These clubs play a direct role in evangelizing children, teenagers, and young people.¹³

There are 709 people working for the ACSR. The conference has 58 pastors, 38 of whom are church pastors, five are school pastors, one is responsible for those who become interested in the Adventist message after watching the Hope Channel Brazil, one is responsible for those who become interested in the Adventist message after listening to New Time Radio, one is an assistant pastor for the Igreja Adventista de Porto Alegre [Central Adventist Church of Porto Alegre], two lead the “Urban Centers of Influence,” seven preside over departmental directors, and three are administrators.¹⁴ The others work in administrative and operational sectors of the institutions of the church.

The Origin of SDA Work in the Conference Territory

Along with the states of Rio de Janeiro, Espírito Santo, São Paulo, Paraná, and Santa Catarina, Rio Grande do Sul was one of the first states to receive the Seventh-day Adventist Church message in Brazil – an event that occurred in the late 19th century. This “soil” was extremely fertile for the Adventist message because the Adventist preaching advanced almost at the same time in the various regions of the state, both in the countryside and in the capital.¹⁵

In 1892, Adventism came to the state of Rio Grande do Sul with the arrival of the Kümpels. Five years later (1897), Pastor Huldreich Graf and a canvasser named Albert B. Stauffer organized the first two churches of that state--one in the municipality of Ijuí and the other in Santa Cruz do Sul. In the following year, the third church of the state was organized in the city of Não-me-Toque. Currently, this church is in the territory of the municipality of Lagoa dos Três Cantos.¹⁶

In 1897, Pastor Graf baptized Mr. Guilherme Preuss and his family in Taquari, which is approximately 80 km from Porto Alegre. The Preuss family was reached by the Adventist message through the work of Albert B. Stauffer, a canvasser who had come from Uruguay and had been working in South America since 1891. Guilherme Preuss owned a hotel in Taquari and purchased, in 1894, the book Patriarchen und Propheten (Patriarchs and Prophets in German) by Ellen G. White.¹⁷

After his baptism, he made the hotel building available so a medical clinic and a school for the preparation of missionaries could be installed in it. In 1903, the course for the preparation of missionaries was transferred from Gaspar Alto in the state of Santa Catarina to Taquari. It is known that “classes began on August 19, 1903, under the direction of Emílio Schenk, assisted by Guilherme Stein Jr.”¹⁸ Emílio Francisco Otto Schenk was a German Lutheran who was married to Pastor Graf’s daughter, Lucy Meta Graf (fondly known as “Lulu”). Schenk was never baptized into the Seventh-day Adventist Church.¹⁹

In addition to the Preuss family’s hotel, a land of 100 hectares²⁰ was provided so the school could be self-sufficient and the students would have a place to work. Thereafter, the leaders sought the legalization of the Taquari school. In addition to that, the “Statutes of the School Society of the Seventh-day Adventists of the State of Rio Grande do Sul” were drafted and registered in a registry in July 1904. It was clear (in Article II) the purposes of that Society: “to foster the education of the youth in accordance with the principles of the Christian religion (that is, the Bible) by giving elementary instruction, notions of agriculture and accessory industries, as well as enabling young people of both genders for the work as teachers and for the evangelical ministry.” For the first time in Brazil, an Adventist institution was granted legal existence.²¹

Schenk was replaced as principle by John Lipke, referred to by Ruth Streithorst as “the one who knew everything and did everything.”²² Immediately, Lipke began preparations to install a publishing house at the College. With this aim in mind, “he decided to go to the United States in order to raise funds for the establishment of the long-awaited typography. He raised US$ 1,500.00 and when he visited the Emmanuel Missionary College [nowadays Andrews University] in Berrien Springs, Michigan, he noticed that there, in the Review and Herald Publishing Association workshops in Battle Creek, there was a press in disuse, saved from a fire that had occurred in 1902. He then suggested the press be donated to a missionary school in Brazil.” So it was sent to the countryside of Rio Grande do Sul.²³

The small town of Taquari in the countryside of Rio Grande do Sul²⁴ was the territory where the first Adventist publications in Brazil were printed and the ministry of publications in the country began. Thus, it became possible to print adventist literature in Portuguese instead of importing books and magazines in German and/or English. In order to operate the press, George Sabeff, a medical student who had already worked in the profession at the International Tract Society, came from the United States. Sabeff decided to move to Brazil after hearing Lipke’s personal appeal about the needs of the Brazilian mission field. Relying on his experience, he cleaned the charred machine, assembled it, and started to make typographic compositions.²⁵ Almost at the same time, Augusto Pages arrived from Germany to manage the enterprise.²⁶

The initial goal was that there would also be a clinic in the town of Taquari. A. L. Gregory played an important role in achieving this objective. He was a recently graduated North American physician who had arrived in Brazil with his wife, Lula, in 1904.²⁷ Gregory was the forerunner of the Adventist medical missionary work in Brazil.²⁸ Two years later (1906), with the organization of the South American Union, the Rio Grande do Sul Conference was established in Taquari under the leadership of Huldreich Graf. This was the first administrative headquarters of the Adventist Church in Rio Grande do Sul.²⁹ A growing Adventist population of international roots gradually settled in Taquari.

In that city, there was a clinic, a mission school, and a fully functioning publishing house in addition to the Conference administrative headquarters. However, difficulties with access and the distance between the city and the other Brazilian regions contributed to the fact that the work didn’t advanced as expected. The clinic didn’t prosper due to the difficulties for the North American physician to obtain a license for the practice of medicine in Brazil. In addition, in 1907, the publishing house needed to transfer to the state of São Paulo, the school was closed in 1910, and the property sold in 1911. The money obtained through the sale, combined with funds coming from different sources, allowed the acquisition of a property in the then-municipality of Santo Amaro (which today is part of the capital of the state, São Paulo). This was the third attempt to establish a school to prepare missionaries in Brazil after Gaspar Alto and Taquari.³⁰

Also in Porto Alegre, the capital of the state of Rio Grande do Sul, although Adventism had been present in the city since 1897 (the year when six people were baptized by Pastor Huldreich Graf), it was only in 1911 that the Adventist Church was organized in that city. The pastor responsible for its organization was Emmanuel Christian Ehlers. During that occasion, 12 people were baptized.³¹ It was in that location, with the mentioned pioneers and many others who worked there at some point, that the Adventist organization in Brazil built educational, medical, and publishing institutions, all of which would contribute to the expressive growth in the number of Adventists in this region of the world. As a result of these efforts, the ACSR currently manages a network of schools and academies that serves school-age children and the youth and has in its territory a traditional medical clinic in Porto Alegre in addition to an impressive Adventist population.³²

In 1922, Canadian educator Abraham Classen Harder, then president of the ASR, inspired the church to invest in a teaching center to provide training for its youth and to prepare them to serve in the Adventist work. Those who dreamed of following a pastoral career had only one option: the Colégio Missionário de São Paulo [Brazilian Seminary] (currently the Brazil Adventist University, campus São Paulo - Universitário Adventista de São Paulo or UNASP-SP)that had been established after the closure of the Taquary Training School. Mary Harder and Ernesto Bergold were some of the people who contributed financially to the fulfillment of this dream. In 1928, classes and training of missionaries began. However, it was only in 1937 that a property to hold the school in was purchased by the Conference. In 1938, under the direction of Dr. Otávio Espírito Santo, the school was made official as the Ginásio Adventista de Taquara [Taquara Adventist Gymnasium], nowadays Instituto Adventista Cruzeiro do Sul [Cruzeiro do Sul Adventist Academy] (Instituto Adventista Cruzeiro do Sul or IACS).³³

The medical field also made progress in the 1940s. It was during this period (1944) that pastor Jerônimo Garcia and physician Siegfried Hoffmann founded the Clínica Bom Samaritano [Belém Clinic] in Porto Alegre. The clinic was established at the same address as the Rio Grande do Sul Conference, and Hoffmann, who was also a pastor, had the “opportunity to treat thousands of patients.”³⁴ Many years later, in 1989, the Belém Clinic gave rise to the Porto Alegre Adventist Clinic (Clinica Adventista de Porto Alegre or CAPA).³⁵

In the first semester of 1950, the then-leader of the South American Division Evangelism Department, Pastor Walter Schubert, was in Rio Grande do Sul to preach in a series of public meetings in a tent, called tabernáculo [tabernacle]. His messages usually involved topics related to well-being, health care, family affairs, and subsequently, biblical-theological subjects. This first evangelistic experience in Brazil was successful, and 70 people were baptized in the first two baptismal ceremonies. This fact is important because this model has strongly influenced evangelistic efforts carried out in the Brazilian territory since then.³⁶

With the mission moving forward at a rapid pace, the Adventist Church created the course “Como Deixar de Fumar em Cinco Dias” [“How to Quit Smoking in Five Days”] in the 1960s, an important tool of social and evangelistic outreach.³⁷ In 1971, the ASR’s new headquarters was inaugurated in the Cristal neighborhood in Porto Alegre, where it remains to this day.³⁸ In the 1980s, the Porto Alegre Central Church started to provide the “How to Quit Smoking” course in its evangelistic campaigns.³⁹ Using the same tactic as Walter Schubert — start the evangelistic series talking about topics such as well-being, family, and health — the Adventist Church grew in the region. In 1984, the number of Adventists in the state of Rio Grande do Sul exceeded the benchmark of 26,800 people.⁴⁰ Thus, due to the continuous advance in the preaching of the Gospel in the region, in 1995, there were already about 35,806 members linked to the ASR, and at least 52 pastoral districts.⁴¹

With the missionary expansion in Rio Grande do Sul, the South Brazil Union Conference (União Sul-Brasileira or USB) decided to reorganize the Rio Grande do Sul Conference, establishing the Western Rio Grande do Sul Mission (Missão do Oeste Sul Rio Grande or MOSR, presently the North Rio Grande do Sul Conference - Adventistas do Noroeste do Rio Grande do Sul or ANSR), headquartered in Ijuí and started to operate in January, 1996. Such reorganization allowed the ASR to remain with about 28,700 members spread over 37 pastoral districts, and the MOSR to begin its work assisting about 7,500 members divided into 15 districts.⁴²

Conference Organizational History

Years later, the growth of SDA Church in Rio Grande do Sul enabled another reorganization. In 2005, the Rio Grande do Sul Conference had reached a total of 44,542 members spread over 386 congregations and 59 pastoral districts. Considering the extension of the territory and the challenges for the work of evangelization to advance, the ASR (through vote no. 2005-193) and the USB (through vote 2005-039), with referendum of the Extraordinary General Meeting of the Rio Grande do Sul Conference held on January 29th, 2006, asked the SAD for the creation of a survey board for the purpose of reorganizing what was then the ASR, and to establish a new Conference. The plenary session of the South American Division that approved the establishment of the Central Rio Grande do Sul Conference took place within May 1st-4th, 2006, and was presided over by Pastor Ruy Nagel. ⁴³

The new administrative unit was officially established on November 4, 2006⁴⁴ with the splitting of the pioneer Rio Grande do Sul Conference, which started operating in January 2007. The new conference began to assist some municipalities which, until then, had been a part of the Western Rio Grande do Sul Mission. There were no churches in them, and greater evangelistic action was needed.⁴⁵ The initial configuration of the ACSR had 20,521 members spread over of 28 districts that covered 194 municipalities, and it had a total population of 5,284,729 inhabitants. The first president elected to lead it was Moisés de Mattos. Pastor Laerte Lanza was chosen as executive secretary, and as treasurer, Pastor Davi Contri.⁴⁶ Its mission, as an institution of the Seventh-day Adventist Church has been, from the start, “to make disciples through Relationship with God, Relationship with others, and Mission.”⁴⁷

The ACSR headquarters was inaugurated in March 2007 at its current address on 596 João Wallig St. in the Passo d’Areia neighborhood in Porto Alegre. Since its establishment, already with status of Conference, the ACSR has been located in the capital of Rio Grande do Sul because it is a financial and geographical center with a good communication and transportation system. Also, this happened because it is a large city that all the cities in the countryside of the state prefer to gather and because it is the center of several satellite municipalities which form the Grand Porto Alegre as well.⁴⁸

Within 2007 and 2010, the ACSR sought to grow on all fronts. There was a strong emphasis on baptisms and growth of the educational field. Adventist education also showed expansion. The number of students during these four years increased from 3,713 to 4,023. As part of the investments in infrastructure, a new auditorium that could hold 1,000 people was inaugurated at the Colégio Adventista Marechal Rondon [Marechal Rondon Adventist Academy]⁴⁹

The following four-year period was notable due to at least three aspects. The first was the growth of the church through new converts, increasing from 9,645 in 2007 and 2010 to 10,644 within 2011 and 2014.⁵⁰ Regarding the education, the premises of the school in Cachoeirinha were expanded to include an auditorium able to hold 300 people. In addition to that, the number of students in the Adventist network of the ACSR increased 16%.⁵¹ The period was also marked by the computerization of 90 percent of the secretariat departments of the churches in the Conference.⁵²

Since 2015, the Adventist Church in the field of the ACSR has shown harmonious growth. It has inaugurated 17 new churches,⁵³ four of which in Porto Alegre (considered the most challenging state capital in Brazil) and two Health Life Style Centers In addition, the Conference demonstrated a sharp increase in member loyalty through tithes and offerings as well as in personal devotion. In 2017, it achieved the largest amount of Sabbath School Bible Study Guide subscriptions in its history. In that same year, the ACSR was the association with the best performance in ingathering campaign in the USB. There was also a great emphasis on member engagement on a relationship with God, with others, and on Mission. Also, within 2016 and 2017, the education department had an increase of 17.75 percent in the number of enrolled students.⁵⁴

Still in the educational aspect, during this period, five new lots were purchased for new schools,⁵⁵ construction work for a new school in Canoas began, and a “Novo Tempo Store” [“Hope Channel Brazil Store”] was inaugurated at Marechal Rondon Adventist Academy.⁵⁶ There was also an increase in the number of teachers, students, and baptisms in schools, a jump from 128 in 2015 to 182 in 2017.⁵⁷ In addition, during 2016 and 2017, at least two new churches were planted in the Porto Alegre region, the House Church and the Jardim Lindóia Church.⁵⁸ A Health Life Style Center was also inaugurated in the southern area of Porto Alegre, and another was established in the city of Caxias do Sul. These centers have service rooms, a kitchen for cooking classes, a place for children, and an auditorium where the Novo Tempo Spaces are.⁵⁹

In 2017, a reorganization took place in the three administrative units of the Adventist Church in the state do Rio Grande do Sul. This action was necessary due to the challenges the state was facing, mainly due to the geography of the then-Western Rio Grande do Sul Mission. Thus, on November 16, 2017, it was voted to accept the USB request for the reorganization of Rio Grande do Sul Conference, Central Rio Grande do Sul Conference, and Western Rio Grande do Sul Mission.⁶⁰ With the change of territory, the MOSR changed its status to North Rio Grande do Sul Mission (presently the North Rio Grande do Sul Conference).⁶¹

This territory reorganization took place on January 1st, 2018. The ACSR became responsible for assisting 38 districts, namely: Alegrete, Arroio do Meio, Bairro Cruzeiro, Bairro Fátima, Bairro Pioneiro, Bento Gonçalves, Cachoeira do Sul, Cachoeirinha, Canoas, Caxias do Sul, Costa e Silva, Cruz Alta, Esplanada, Farroupilha, Floresta, Igara, Iguatemi, Ijuí, Ijuí Norte, Lajeado, Mathias Velho, Montenegro, Niterói, Panambi, Parque dos Maias, Parque Pinheiro Machado, Portão, Prado, Restinga Seca, Santa Cruz do Sul, Santa Maria, Santa Rosa, Santiago, Santo Ângelo, São Borja, Sarandi, Uruguaiana, and Vila Jardim.⁶²

Currently, the Conference has a total of 17,371 members divided into 224 congregations. At least 4,343 of these members are directly involved in the mission, with 1,215 giving Bible studies to 322 friends interested in learning more about the Adventist message.⁶³ The ratio is of 294 inhabitants per Adventist in the territory, so the ACSR team has been working intensively on planting new churches in order to reach more and more people. In 2018, a total of 1,084 new members were admitted to the SDA Church, 829 of whom joined through baptism.⁶⁴

Every year, the members and the leadership of the Central Rio Grande do Sul Conference participate in important missionary programs for the evangelization of their territory. Among these programs, it is worth pointing out the project “Hope Impact”⁶⁵ and its numbers in the last three years. In 2016, Adventists in the region distributed approximately 215,000 books called “Esperança Viva” [“Living Hope”]; In 2017, “Em Busca de Esperança” [“Seeking Hope”] a total of 380,000 books; and in 2018, “O poder da esperança” [“The Power of Hope”] about 250,000 books. All of them were given away through free distribution.⁶⁶

The Holy Week programs⁶⁷ were another highlight of the last four-year period. During these years, members were greatly engaged in carrying out this project, and many people were reached by the message preached in the churches. It stands out that “An annual average of 10,000 members were engaged, 793 preaching spots, and 4,941 people interested in the message.” Also, during this period, 76,000 Bible studies were given, 3.5 million missionary flyers were distributed, along with 50,000evangelistic DVDs and 10,000 Bibles. All of these initiatives were put into practice so more people would be reached by the message of hope.⁶⁸

In 2018, the ACSR was challenged by the South American Division to further increaseits missionary efforts to reach large cities. With the work of members and pastors, a new church was inaugurated in the Moinhos de Vento neighborhood in Porto Alegre--a neighborhood that, until then, had no Adventist presence. In 2019, “Porto Alegre Impact” took place in Porto Alegre with the participation of a team from the SAD. In that occasion, the Adventist Church celebrated a total of 382 baptisms. During that same period, Pastor Ted Wilson, president of the SDA Church’s General Conference, came to the ACSR territory and visited churches, schools, and the Conference office.⁶⁹

Although this mission field has experienced a massive gain in the amount of members, the most consistent growth sought by the ACSR has come to pass through the emphasis on direct engagement in the mission by members as well as a focus on stewardship, training, and the effort to make members aware that it is their responsibility to care for new converts. Aware of the need for discipleship, members began to become more directly engaged. In addition, education was where the major share of the resources were distributed to, resulting in the inauguration of a new school in the municipality of Canoas in the state’s countryside.⁷⁰

However, the geographic territory covered by the ACSR still poses two major challenges: The first has to do with the distance between the locations being served, and the second involves the Porto Alegre Metropolitan Region. It has been observed in recent years (during the project of evangelism of big cities) how much the Adventist presence in the capital needs to grow. With some initiatives such as “Hope Impact” and “Porto Alegre Impact”⁷¹ and projects for planting church-centers in neighborhoods where the church hadn’t been present, this has already begun to change. However, there are still many people that members need to reach and neighborhoods they must enter in order to fulfil this mission.⁷²

The essential plan the field has to achieve this goal is to continually strengthen the practice of networked discipleship, including gaining new disciples and keeping those who are already members. In each district, there is a regional lay leader for each department who will serve as a bridge between the ACSR and the individual member. In addition, the ACSR leadership team intends to deepen the commitment of all members regarding faithfulness in giving tithes and offerings.⁷³

Through these and other possible initiatives, such as the Projeto Maná [Manna Project], the ACSR leadership wants to have more members engaged in a daily relationship with God through studying the Bible and the Sabbath School Bible Study Guide.⁷⁴ In addition, it is intended to have more members practicing solidarity with others through actions that will be undertaken in partnership with ASA and ADRA branches in the state of Rio Grande do Sul. Finally, it is the Conference plan to engage as many members as possible with the mission of saving others from sin and guiding them into service - using all available resources and means such as public evangelism series’, small group meetings, Branch Sabbath Schools, the planting of new churches, etc. Every possible missionary effort will continue to be made so that many will be in heaven for eternity.⁷⁵

Chronology of Administrative Executives⁷⁶

Presidents: Moisés de Mattos (2007-2015); Marcos Luiz Lima de Oliveira Júnior (2016-present).

Secretaries: Laerte Lanza (2007-2013); Harry James Streithorst (2014-2015); Elton de Lima Alves Júnior (2016-present).

Treasurers: Davi Contri (2007); Herbert Élbio Annies Gruber (2008-2011); Márcio da Luz Silva (2012-2017); Laudecir Miotto Mazzo (2018-present).⁷⁷

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Pessoa, Douglas. “Líder mundial da Igreja visita instituições adventistas no Rio Grande do Sul” [“Seventh-day Adventist Church world leader visits Adventist institutions in Rio Grande do Sul”]. Adventist News Network (Online), April 25, 2019.

Peverini, H. J. En las huellas de la Providencia [In the footsteps of the Providence]. Buenos Aires: South American Spanish Publishing House, 1988.

Renovando a Esperança: Associação Central Sul Rio-Grandense – IV Assembleia Quadrienal, 2015-2018 [Renewing Hope: Central Rio Grande do Sul Conference – IV Quadrennial General Meeting 2015-2018].

“Resultados” [“Results”]. Renovando a Esperança: Associação Central Sul Rio-Grandense – IV Assembleia Quadrienal [Renewing Hope: Central Rio Grande do Sul Conference – IV Quadrennial General Meeting], 2015-2018.

Rio Grande do Sul Conference of the SDA Church. “Impacto Porto Alegre” [“Porto Alegre Impact”]. Youtube video with story recorded by TV Novo Tempo [Hope Channel Brazil]. July 6, 2015.

Seventh-day Adventist Church (Brazil) website. http://www.Adventistas.org/pt/.

Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook. Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association. Various years. https://www.adventistyearbook.org/.

Silva, Andréia. “Centro de vida saudável é inaugurado na zona norte de Porto Alegre, RS” [“Health Life Style Center is inaugurated in the northern area of Porto Alegre, RS”]. Adventist News Network (Online), August 10, 2017.

Silva, Andréia. “Inaugurado primeiro Centro de Vida Saudável do Centro do Rio Grande do Sul” [“First Health Life Style Center in central Rio Grande do Sul is Inaugurated”]. Adventist News Network (Online), January 23, 2017.

Streithorst, R. V. Pelos Caminhos e Valados [Through pathways and hedgerows]. Tatuí, SP: Brazil Publishing House, 1999.

União Sul-Brasileira [South Brazil Union Conference]. http://usb.adventistas.org/.

Notes

1. “Central Rio Grande do Sul Conference,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Nampa, ID.: Pacific Press Publishing Association, 2018), 253.↩

2. Ibid.↩

3. Adventist Church Management System (ACMS), accessed May 23, 2019.↩

4. Bianca Ramos (ACSR secretary), e-mail message to the author, April 23, 2019.↩

5. “Holistic urban centers that can be used to meet community needs. Ellen G. White encouraged the existence of Urban Centers of Influence that would provide lifestyle instructions, health care, reading, restaurants, canvassing, lectures, instructions on how to prepare healthy food, etc. Currently, Urban Centers of Influence can offer and have different aspects and ministry services, but the principle is still the same - to be tuned with other people's needs.” Missão Urbana [Urban Mission], “Centros de Influência” [“Urban Centers of Influence”], accessed July 31, 2019, http://bit.ly/38U6V5P.↩

6. Andréia Silva, “Centro de vida saudável é inaugurado na zona norte de Porto Alegre, RS” [“Health Life Style Center is inaugurated in the northern area of Porto Alegre, RS”], Adventist News Network, August 10, 2017, accessed February 12, 2020, https://bit.ly/2SD7iv5.↩

7. Andréia Silva, “Inaugurado primeiro Centro de Vida Saudável do Centro do Rio Grande do Sul” [“First Health Life Style Center in central Rio Grande do Sul is Inaugurated”], Adventist News Network, January 23, 2017, accessed February 12, 2020, https://bit.ly/38oxW1s.↩

8. Clínica Adventista de Porto Alegre [Porto Alegre Adventist Clinic], “Especialidades” [“Specialties”], accessed February 12, 2020, https://bit.ly/37mlTQT.↩

9. Bianca Ramos (ACSR secretary), e-mail message to the author, April 23, 2019.↩

10. The Pathfinders Club is made up of “boys and girls aged 10 to 15 years old, from different social classes, color, religion. They meet, in general, once a week to learn to develop talents, skills, perceptions and a taste for nature.” These boys and girls “are thrilled with outdoor activities. They like camping, hiking, climbing, exploring the woods and caves. They know how to cook outdoors, making a fire without matches.” Besides, they demonstrate “skill with discipline through drill commands and have their creativity awakened by manual arts. They also fight the use of tobacco, alcohol, and drugs.” Seventh-day Adventist Church (Brazil) website, “Quem somos” [“Who we are”], accessed February 4, 2020 http://bit.ly/2FDRqTh.↩

11. “The Adventurers Club is a program for children from 6 to 9 years old, created by the Seventh-day Adventist Church, in 1972. [...] At the meetings, children carry out activities with a focus on physical, mental and spiritual development.” Seventh Day Adventist Church – Central Caxias do Sul – RS, “Clube de Aventureiros: Duquinhos [Adventurers Club: Duquinhos],” accessed February 4, 2020, https://bit.ly/389AQGG.↩

12. Ministério de Desbravadores e Aventureiros ACSR [ACSR Pathfinders and Adventurers Ministry], “Estatísticas - Associação Central Sul-Rio-Grandense” [“Statistics - Central Rio Grande do Sul Conference”], accessed March 2, 2020, http://clubes.adventistas.org/br/usb/acsr/. ↩

13. Bianca Ramos (ACSR secretary), e-mail message to the author, February 08, 2018.↩

14. Carla Oliveira, interviewed by Andressa da Cruz Bichet, May 23, 2019.↩

15. H. J. Peverini, En las huellas de la Providencia [In the footsteps of the Providence], Buenos Aires: South American Spanish Publishing House, 1988, 44.↩

16. O. Fonseca, ed., Associação Sul Rio-Grandense – 100 anos de Fé, Pioneirismo e Ação [Rio Grande do Sul Conference – 100 years of Faith, Pioneering, and Mission], Porto Alegre, RS: Rio Grande do Sul Conference of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church, n.d, 19-21.↩

17. Peverini, En las huellas de la Providencia [In the footsteps of the Providence], 41, 45.↩

18. Fonseca, ed., Associação Sul Rio-Grandense – 100 anos de Fé, Pioneirismo e Ação [Rio Grande do Sul Conference – 100 years of Faith, Pioneering, and Mission], 36-37.↩

19. Clóvis Schenk Bararesko (Huldreich Graf’s great-great-grandchild), interviewed by the author, Taquari, Rio Grande do Sul, August 17, 2015.↩

20. Paulo Cesar de Azevedo, “O ensino adventista de nível médio no Brasil” [“Adventist high school education in Brazil”], in: A educação adventista no Brasil: uma história de aventuras e milagres [Adventist education in Brazil: a story of adventures and miracles], org. A.R. Timm (Engenheiro Coelho, SP: Unaspress, 2004), 52.↩

21. Fonseca, ed., Associação Sul Rio-Grandense – 100 anos de Fé, Pioneirismo e Ação [Rio Grande do Sul Conference – 100 years of Faith, Pioneering, and Mission], 24.↩

22. Streithorst, Ruth Vieira. Pelos Caminhos e Valados [Through pathways and hedgerows], Tatuí, SP: Brazil Publishing House, 1999. 83.↩

23. R. S. Lessa, Casa Publicadora Brasileira 100 anos [Brazil Publishing House - 100 years], Tatuí, SP: Brazilian Publishing House, 2000, 51-52.↩

24. “Relativo ou pertencente ao estado do Rio Grande do Sul” [“Relating or belonging to the state of Rio Grande do Sul”], Michaelis, “Gaúcho,” accessed July 23, 2019, http://bit.ly/2K4Dh2K.↩

25. Education Department of the General Conference of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, História da nossa Igreja [Our Church History], Santo André, SP: Brazil Publishing House, n.d., 314.↩

26. Floyd Greenleaf, Terra de Esperança: O Crescimento da Igreja Adventista na América do Sul [A Land of Hope: the Growth of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in South America] (Tatuí, SP: Brazil Publishing House, 2011), 73.↩

27. Ibid., 54.↩

28. Elder Hosokawa, “Da Colina, ‘Rumo ao Mar:’ Colégio Adventista Brasileiro, Santo Amaro, 1915-1947” [“From the Hill, ‘Towards the Sea:’ Brazil College, Santo Amaro, 1915-1947”], Master’s Thesis, University of São Paulo (USP), 2001, 68.↩

29. Floyd Greenleaf, Terra de Esperança: O Crescimento da Igreja Adventista na América do Sul [A Land of Hope: the Growth of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in South America], Tatuí, SP: Brazil Publishing House, 2011, 96-97.↩

30. Márcio Dias Guarda, UNASP: muito além do ensino. 100 anos de História [UNASP: far beyond teaching. 100 years of History], Hortolândia, SP: Brazil Adventist University, 2015, 39.↩

31. Waldemar Ehlers, “Conferência do Rio Grande do Sul” [“Rio Grande do Sul Conference”], Monthly Review 6, nos. 9 and 10 (September and October, 1911): 9-10.↩

32. Central Rio Grande do Sul Conference, “Escolas” [“Schools”], accessed July 24, 2019, http://bit.ly/2OjGL6U; South Brazil Union Conference, “Instituições” [“Institutions”], accessed July 24, 2019, http://bit.ly/2JZmCO3.↩

33. Fonseca, ed., Associação Sul Rio-Grandense – 100 anos de Fé, Pioneirismo e Ação [Rio Grande do Sul Conference – 100 years of Faith, Pioneering Spirit and Action], 42-49.↩

34. Greenleaf, Terra de Esperança: O Crescimento da Igreja Adventista na América do Sul [A Land of Hope: the Growth of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in South America], 461; “Good Samaritan Clinic,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1950), 307.↩

35. Seventh-day Adventist Online Yearbook, “Porto Alegre Adventist Clinic,” accessed February 11, 2020, https://bit.ly/2SgF760. For more information on the establishment and history of the Porto Alegre Adventist Clinic, see the article “Clínica Adventista de Porto Alegre” [“Porto Alegre Adventist Clinic”] in this Encyclopedia.↩

36. Greenleaf, Terra de Esperança: O Crescimento da Igreja Adventista na América do Sul [A Land of Hope: the Growth of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in South America], 520.↩

37. Fonseca, ed., Associação Sul Rio-Grandense – 100 anos de Fé, Pioneirismo e Ação [Rio Grande do Sul Conference – 100 years of Faith, Pioneering, and Mission], 54.↩

38. Joel Camacho, “Associação Sul Rio-Grandense Inaugura Nova Sede” [“Rio Grande do Sul Conference Inaugurates New Headquarters”], Revista Adventista 66, no. 9 (September, 1971): 21.↩

39. Fonseca, ed., Associação Sul Rio-Grandense – 100 anos de Fé, Pioneirismo e Ação [Rio Grande do Sul Conference – 100 years of Faith, Pioneering, and Mission], 54.↩

40. “Rio Grande do Sul Conference,” Seventh-day Adventist Online Yearbook (Hagerstown, MD.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1985), 316.↩

41. “Rio Grande do Sul Conference,” Seventh-day Adventist Online Yearbook (Hagerstown, MD.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1996), 290.↩

42. “Assembléia mostra crescimento da União Sul” [“General Meeting shows growth of the South Union”], Revista Adventista 92, April 1996, 14.↩

43. “Ata da 1ª Assembleia Ordinária Denominacional da ACSR” [“Minutes of the 1st Denominational Ordinary General Meeting of ACSR”], Article XV, item 1, Regulamento Interno da Associação Central Sul Rio-grandense da Igreja Adventista do Sétimo Dia [Internal Regulations of the Central Rio Grande do Sul Conference of the Seventh-day Adventist Church], Porto Alegre, RS, n.d., 14-15.↩

44. Laerte Lanza, “Associação Central Sul-Rio-Grandense inaugura sede” [“Central Rio Grande do Sul Conference inaugurates its headquarters”], Revista Adventista 102, no. 1188 (May 2007): 32↩

45. Ibid.↩

46. “Ata da 1ª Assembleia Ordinária Denominacional da ACSR” [“Minutes of the 1st Denominational Ordinary General Meeting of ACSR”], Article XV, item 1, Regulamento Interno da Associação Central Sul Rio-grandense da Igreja Adventista do Sétimo Dia [Internal Regulations of the Central Rio Grande do Sul Conference of the Seventh-day Adventist Church], Porto Alegre, RS, n.d., 14-15; “Central Rio Grande Do Sul Conference,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Hagerstown, MD.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 2008), 279.↩

47. Marcos Junior, “Presidência” [“Presidency”], Renovando a Esperança: Associação Central Sul Rio-Grandense – IV Assembleia Quadrienal (2015-2018) [Renewing Hope: Central Rio Grande do Sul Conference – IV Quadrennial General Meeting (2015-2018)]: 9.↩

48. Ibid.↩

49. “Crescimento Espiritual, Crescimento Missionário e Evangelístico, Crescimento na Educação” [“Spiritual Growth, Missionary and Evangelistic Growth, Growth in Education”], Jornal Comtexto – Relatório da II Assembleia Quadrienal da ACSR [Comtexto Journal – Report of the ACSR II Quadrennial General Meeting], 4-5.↩

50. Adventist Church Management System (ACMS), May 22, 2019.↩

51. “Mais Educação” [“More education”], ACSR: Fazendo discípulos através da comunhão, relacionamento e missão – III Assembleia Quadrienal da Associação Central Sul-Rio-Grandense [ACSR: Making disciples through communion with God, relationship with others and mission - III Quadrennial General Meeting of the Central Rio Grande do Sul Conference], 2011-2014, 6.↩

52. Ibid., 8.↩

53. “Missão Global” [“Global Mission”], Renovando a Esperança: Associação Central Sul Rio-Grandense – IV Assembleia Quadrienal [Renewing Hope: Central Rio Grande do Sul Conference - IV Quadrennial General Meeting], 2015-2018, 108.↩

54. Fabiana Nowack (ACSR head of the Education and Religious Freedom departments), e-mail message to the author, March 20, 2018; Ibid., e-mail message to the author, March 21, 2017.↩

55. Renovando a Esperança: Associação Central Sul Rio-Grandense – IV Assembleia Quadrienal 2015-2018 [Renewing Hope: Central Rio Grande do Sul Conference – IV Quadrennial General Meeting 2015-2018], 10.↩

56. “Nova Escola – Canoas. Um sonho sendo realizado” [“New school – Canoas. A dream coming true”], “Renovando a Esperança: Associação Central Sul Rio-Grandense – IV Assembleia Quadrienal [Renewing Hope: Central Rio Grande do Sul Conference – IV Quadrennial General Meeting], 2015-2018, 34-35.↩

57. “Resultados” [“Results”], Renovando a Esperança: Associação Central Sul Rio-Grandense – IV Assembleia Quadrienal [Renewing Hope: Central Rio Grande do Sul Conference – IV Quadrennial General Meeting], 2015-2018, 43.↩

58. Renata, interviewed by Andressa da Cruz Bichet (ACSR secretary), August 15, 2018.↩

59. Andréia Silva, “Centro de vida saudável é inaugurado na zona norte de Porto Alegre, RS” [“Health Life Style Center is inaugurated in the northern area of Porto Alegre”], Adventist News Network, August 10, 2017, accessed February 12, 2020, https://bit.ly/2SD7iv5; Andréia Silva, “Inaugurado primeiro Centro de Vida Saudável do Centro do Rio Grande do Sul” [“First Health Life Style Center in central Rio Grande do Sul is Inaugurated”], Adventist News Network, January 23, 2017, accessed February 12, 2020, https://bit.ly/38oxW1s.↩

60. Minutes of the South American Division, November 16, 2017, vote no. 2017-10.↩

61. Giovanni Manzolli, “Sede administrativa Adventista para o norte gaúcho elege líderes para o próximo quadriênio” [“Administrative unit for northern Rio Grande do Sul elects leaders for the next four-year period”], Adventist News Network, November 24 2019, accessed February 12, 2020, https://bit.ly/3bsR8wZ.↩

62. Minutes of the South American Division, November 16, 2017, vote no. 2017-10.↩

63. Marissol Pasqualetto (ACSR secretary), e-mail message to the author, May 23, 2019.↩

64. Adventist Church Management System (ACMS), accessed May 23, 2019.↩

65. “Impacto Esperança [Hope Impact] is a program that encourages the practice of reading and provides a mass annual distribution of books on the part of the Seventh-day Adventist in the South American territory.” Seventh-day Adventist Church (Brazil) website, “Impacto Esperança” [“Hope Impact”], accessed February 4, 2020, https://bit.ly/34dZROO.↩

66. “Livros missionários adquiridos” [“Missionary books purchased”], Renovando a Esperança: Associação Central Sul Rio-Grandense – IV Assembleia Quadrienal [Renewing Hope: Central Rio Grande do Sul Conference – IV Quadrennial General Meeting], 2015-2018, 10.↩

67. “Harvest evangelism in the Holy Week is a very special time to introduce Jesus and the life we find in Him through the Word of God. The purpose of this evangelism is to remember the sacrifice, death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ on behalf of humanity.” Portal da Igreja Adventista do Sétimo Dia [Seventh-Day Adventist Church (Brazil) website], “Semana Santa Evangelismo de Colheita e Semeadura” [“Holy Week Harvest and Sowing Evangelism”], accessed February 4, 2020, https://bit.ly/39uXiuE.↩

68. “Destaques” [“Highlights”], Renovando a Esperança: Associação Central Sul Rio-Grandense – IV Assembleia Quadrienal [Renewing Hope: Central Rio Grande do Sul Conference – IV Quadrennial General Meeting], 2015-2018, 75.↩

69. Douglas Pessoa, “Líder mundial da Igreja visita instituições adventistas no Rio Grande do Sul” [“Seventh-Day Adventist Church world leader visits Adventist institutions in Rio Grande do Sul”], Adventist News Network, April 25, 2019, accessed February 12, 2020, https://bit.ly/31Mh2qZ.↩

70. Marissol Pasqualetto (head of the Personal Ministries Department of ACSR), e-mail message to the author, May 3, 2019.↩

71. Porto Alegre Impact is an evangelistic project that aims at bringing TV Hope Channel Brazil closer to viewers. An evangelistic series led by pastor and singer Fernando Iglesias was held in the Porto Alegre region. In the following year, an evangelistic series that had been previously recorded was broadcast on TV Hope Channel Brazil. Rio Grande do Sul Conference of the SDA Church, “Impacto Porto Alegre” [“Porto Alegre Impact”] (Youtube video with story recorded by TV Novo Tempo [Hope Channel Brazil], July 6, 2015), accessed July 24, 2019, http://bit.ly/2Z6Dyc0.↩

72. João Lorini (head of the Personal Ministries Department of ACSR), e-mail message to the author, May 3, 2019.↩

73. Ibid.↩

74. “Manna Project is a unified effort of the Church to encourage the greatest number of people of all ages to have the Sabbath School Study Guide and to motivate them in the daily study of the Word of God”; accessed February 4, 2020, http://bit.ly/2XXpYGu.↩

75. João Lorini (head of the Personal Ministries Department of ACSR), e-mail message to the author, May 3, 2019.↩

76. Seventh-day Adventist Online Yearbook, “Central Rio Grande do Sul Conference,” accessed July 23, 2019, http://bit.ly/2JK6Fwr; “Central Rio Grande do Sul Conference,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Hagerstown, MD.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 2008), 279; “Central Rio Grande do Sul Conference,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Nampa, ID.: Pacific Press Publishing Association, 2018), 253. For more details about all administrative officers of the Central Rio Grande do Sul Central Rio Grande do Sul Conference, see the SDA Yearbooks from 2008 a 2018.↩

77. For more information about the Central Rio Grande do Sul Conference, access their website at http://acsr.adventistas.org or find them on social media at Facebook: @acsr.rs, Twitter: @_ACSR and Youtube: Associação Central Sul Rio Grandense.↩